[Ups, it was uploaded early]
...
Genichi sat on the windowsill of his apartment, one leg drawn up while the other dangled outside. The night breeze swept past, gently stirring the hem of his clothes.
Moonlight bathed him in a silvery glow.
His eyes were closed as he felt the newly formed connection taking root in the depths of his soul.
Mrs. Yukinoshita, Haruno's mother.
The woman who had once looked down on him, only to be humbled by his power, and who was now willing to entrust her life and death to him.
He could sense how faint their connection remained. It was like a newly sprouted vine, slender and fragile, still incapable of carrying much power.
Yet it was growing, becoming stronger little by little.
Genichi opened his eyes and looked down at his right hand.
The Boosted Gear rested silently on his arm, its green gem emitting a faint glow beneath the moonlight.
The corner of his mouth lifted into a subtle smile. It held a trace of satisfaction, a hint of relief, and another emotion even he couldn't quite define.
The person who had drunk the blood wine wasn't Yukino.
Thank goodness it wasn't her.
Yukino believed she had seen everything. She believed her judgment could never be wrong and that her self-righteous sense of justice could change the world.
She had no idea how complicated, dark, and cruel the world truly was.
She didn't understand that some choices weren't about right or wrong.
They were about life and death.
Genichi remembered the girl standing at the entrance to the Service Club, regarding him with that cool, proud gaze.
She had called him selfish. She had said he was unworthy of his power and cared only about satisfying his own desires.
Genichi couldn't help laughing.
His smile held contempt, mockery, and the condescending pity of someone looking down from far above.
What did she understand?
She was a sheltered flower who had spent more than a decade under her sister's protection, an ordinary person who couldn't even see vengeful spirits, and a student who knew only how to judge reality by the principles she had read in books.
What right did she have to call him selfish?
She had no idea what he had endured.
She didn't know that he had personally killed countless versions of himself in the arena, where he could have lost his life at any moment.
She knew nothing, yet believed she understood everything.
If she truly obtained power and entered the supernatural world, what kind of person would she become?
Genichi could already imagine it.
She would use her power to help anyone she believed needed help, regardless of whether they deserved it.
She would use her power to punish those she considered evil, regardless of whether they were truly guilty or had been falsely accused.
She would use her power to uphold whatever she regarded as justice, without considering whether it was genuine justice or merely an ideal someone else had instilled in her.
And then what?
Politicians, conglomerates, and ambitious schemers would swarm around her like sharks drawn to blood.
They would exploit the flaws in her personality, her stubbornness, and her self-righteous sense of justice, turning her into a sharpened blade.
They would send her after their enemies, use her to eliminate their obstacles, and have her advance their ambitions.
All the while, she would believe she was doing the right thing.
Worse still, they would trace the source of her power through her.
They would discover Genichi's existence, investigate his movements, and devise every possible means of exploiting, controlling, or even eliminating him.
Genichi wasn't afraid of them, but he had no desire to invite unnecessary trouble.
He already had more than enough enemies.
That was why he had never intended to grant Yukino a Sacred Mark in the first place.
If Haruno hadn't asked him to give her sister a chance, he wouldn't even have offered one to that self-righteous girl.
Haruno was his benefactor.
When he had been at his lowest, she had reached out to him, supported him, and given him a place to stay.
He had never forgotten that kindness.
So when Haruno asked him to give Yukino a chance, he agreed.
But Yukino had refused.
She had no one to blame but herself.
Genichi shook his head and erased Yukino from his thoughts.
She wasn't worth any more of his time.
He withdrew his gaze from the distant city lights and looked down at his right hand.
Within the Boosted Gear's gem, a dark shape continued to swim about like a fish trapped in amber.
It was his shadow, Impredge, which had become the soul of the totem.
It was weak, nowhere near comparable to a true dragon soul. It couldn't grant him Satan-class power, much less power beyond Satan-class, even for a short time.
His greatest priority now was finding a way to break through the bottleneck of the Ultimate-class Devil level and advance to Satan-class.
Genichi raised his head and gazed into the night sky.
The moon was full and brilliant. No stars surrounded it, only a few wisps of thin cloud drifting through the moonlight.
He recalled the information Rias had brought back.
The number of Satan-class beings in the DxD world was limited.
For someone to ascend to Satan-class, one of the existing Satans first had to die.
Every Satan-class being in the DxD world was a monster.
If Genichi wanted to claim one of those seats, he would have to drag its current occupant down.
That was easier said than done.
But what about this world?
This crossover world, the first place he had arrived after transmigrating.
Did this world possess a throne for a Satan?
Genichi didn't know, but he believed it did.
Vengeful spirits and other supernatural powers existed here. Although those spirits were weak, with even the strongest only reaching the level of a Middle-class Devil, their existence proved that this world possessed a supernatural foundation.
If the supernatural existed, then it could have a pinnacle.
If there was a pinnacle, there could be a throne.
Genichi tapped his fingers against the windowsill, producing a steady rhythm.
Countless thoughts churned through his mind.
What was the origin of the vengeful spirits?
Where did they come from?
Why did they exist?
If he could locate their source and deal with it, perhaps he could claim this world's throne.
His shadows had been hunting vengeful spirits throughout the city, but they could only follow orders. They couldn't think or analyze what they found.
He needed to investigate personally, searching for clues concealed within the darkness.
Genichi jumped down from the windowsill, his bare feet touching the cold floor.
He walked over to the table, picked up the already opened bottle of red wine, and poured himself a glass.
The wine swayed within the glass, its deep red luster glimmering beneath the light.
He took a small sip. The wine spread across his tongue, carrying a trace of bitterness followed by subtle sweetness.
Genichi lowered the glass and returned to the window, once again gazing into the night.
Moonlight streamed into the apartment, stretching his shadow across the floor.
"I'll find the source of the vengeful spirits, claim this world's throne, and ascend to Satan-class!"
(End of Chapter)
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